I really do. I just don't get the point of lawns. I'd much rather be doing research or watching a movie or arguing with my fellow idiots here at dailykos. It's probably in this context that an idea began to dawn on me last year. What if we Americans gave up on lawns? It seems to me that lawns are a significant contributor to global warming. So why not start a movement to put an end to them?
Certainly lawns can't be good for the environment. First there's the no brainer of all those lawnmowers and their carbon emissions. Then there's all that rotting grass dumped in landfills weekly that releases methane into the environment. Finally, there's the increased albedo lawns produce, leading the earth to absorb more heat.
I would like to declare a war on lawns. Down with the lawns! Wouldn't an end to lawns be a relatively easy and painless way to contribute to the fight against global warming? Isn't the lawn a decadent abomination directly assaulting the environment? Yeah, yeah, I know, there's always that weird guy down the street that's obsessed with his lawn. The lines on his lawn are always perfect. Sometimes he mows in elaborate cross-hatched designs. He spends hours edging. But really, is his obsession worth the price the planet pays?
Imagine neighborhoods filled with beautiful gardens filled with flowers, vegetables, fruits, and gorgeous tall grasses. Here we could contribute to the Slow Food movement, further decreasing the environmental impact of long distance agricultural transport. We would also help to overcome problems caused by the monoculture of our current ecosystem by both diversifying fauna and creating homes for all sorts of animals. I would love to hear what our resident environmentalists think about this and its potential contribution to diminishing the climate problem. Is there really any good, non-selfish reason for lawns? I don't think so.